 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Stephanie
Date: 2001-12-27 04:02
What exactly is mental practice? I was wondering this because I'm sick at the moment and don't really feel like practicing. Does it mean just hearing myself playing it perfectly? I kinda do that right before an audition or whatever. Sometimes I practice fingerings without blowing into the clarinet, is that it? Lol, I'm just kinda clueless here! 
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Author: - ron b -
Date: 2001-12-27 07:05
I've heard the term too, but no one ever tried to explain it to me. I guess it's what you say... thinking it through. Like hearing a melody in your imagination and picturing how you'd play it if your horn was at hand. In my imagination, I always play everything perfectly. In real life, I never get as hot as I think I'm goin' to.
Hope you get well soon, Stephanie.
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-12-27 14:29
Mental practice can mean several things, but it mostly means keeping your head in the game. Thinking through the music and fingerings and technique. When I'm in a place where I can't practice, I think through the music I'm about to play while I'm doing other things during the day. Then when I have the clarinet, I'm ready mentally to do some productive practicing.
Also, keeping your mind sharp by thinking about music and fingerings is a good thing to do because memory and mental skills are like muscles that need to be exercised. When you're 51 you'll understand what I mean.
I spent 18 years in theatre and had to memorize every word and action in 3-act plays all the time--so my memory skills were sharpened by that activity. I found I was better prepared for performance when I never let the play totally "slip" out of my mine during the day--but kept it in the background of my mind at all times. It's something I've learned to use with the clarinet--especially the week before a concert.
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Author: ~ jerry
Date: 2001-12-28 00:29
There are many accounts of people developing a skill through mental practice. The most notable is the testimony of many different POW's from the Vietnam war. Some (I'd say many although I'm not sure of the number) were imprisoned for as long as eight years and confined to a space only large enough to lie down in (it is unfathomable for me to imagine being confined like that for that long and come out sane -- excuse the editorial).
Some of those confined learned new languages and other skills without having any prior training. One such account that I heard by Cmdr. Coffee who learned, without books, using "tap-code" (not morse code) to communicate with the other prisoners, enough French to pass the advanced standing for two years of French to go toward his Master's upon his return to the states.
Another was one where a guy learned to play golf by playing daily, in his mind -- visualizing the yardage, selecting the club, addressing the ball, teeing off and seeing the ball move perfectly down the fairway. After being released and returning home, recuperating and regaining his strength, he played his first round of golf and broke par...........I could never break 100!!
So, with enough will power and concentration, it is possible to learn through imaginary practice.........I only wish I could practice what others preach on this topic.
GL
~ jerry
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